The chaos Gazette tailspin issue one review

THE CHAOS GAZETTE

Saturday, August 22, 2026

COMICS & ANIMATION DESK

REVIEW: TALESPIN #1

Dynamite Takes the Sea Duck Back Into the Skies — And Somehow, It Still Feels Like TaleSpin

By Bugsy NoNameChaos Gazette Comics Critic

There are some cartoons you remember.

And then there are cartoons you can practically smell.

The old Disney Afternoon.

Saturday mornings.

A television humming in the background.

A bowl of cereal sitting way too close to the screen.

And somewhere in the middle of all of it, there was a big orange-and-white Sea Duck flying across the television while Baloo yelled something that sounded like it was about to get him killed.

That's TaleSpin.

And now, in 2026, Dynamite Comics has decided to take that plane back into the sky.

After reading TaleSpin #1, my first thought was surprisingly simple:

Oh, they actually get it.

THE FLIGHT PLAN

Dynamite's new TaleSpin series comes from writer Amanda Deibert and artist Carlo Lauro, the same creative team behind Dynamite's Darkwing Duck comics. The first issue is a 32-page adventure titled “The Wing Walker.” (Dynamite)

The premise is classic TaleSpin.

Higher for Hire gets a job.

The job sounds simple.

It isn't.

Baloo and Kit are hired to transport a mysterious new resident of Cape Suzette, Skye Ryder.

Then Don Karnage shows up.

Because of course he does.

You could probably tell me the plot without even opening the book and I'd believe you.

But that's actually one of the comic's biggest strengths.

It understands that TaleSpin doesn't need to be reinvented.

It needs to be continued.

BALOO IS STILL BALOO

This was the part I was most worried about.

When an old cartoon gets revived decades later, there's always the possibility that somebody will misunderstand the characters.

Baloo could have become too serious.

Kit could have been rewritten into a completely different character.

Don Karnage could have become a generic pirate villain.

Thankfully, that isn't what happened.

Baloo still has that lovable combination of confidence, laziness, recklessness and genuine competence.

He's the kind of pilot who can make you wonder whether he has any idea what he's doing...

...and then immediately pull off something completely insane in the Sea Duck.

That's Baloo.

And the comic knows it.

KIT STILL BELONGS IN THE COCKPIT

Kit Cloudkicker is another character who could have easily been mishandled.

Instead, the comic understands why Kit was so important to the original series.

He's not simply "the kid."

He's Baloo's partner.

He's an adventurer.

He's capable.

And, most importantly, he feels like someone who actually belongs in this world.

The relationship between Baloo and Kit remains one of the strongest elements of TaleSpin, and putting them back together in an actual adventure immediately gives the comic that familiar feeling.

It's not just nostalgia.

It's chemistry.

ENTER DON KAR NAGE

And then there's the glorious bastard himself.

Don Karnage.

Honestly?

This man could walk into practically any TaleSpin story and improve it by approximately 47%.

He's ridiculous.

He's theatrical.

He's arrogant.

He's dangerous enough that Baloo can't simply ignore him.

And he's funny enough that you never completely want him gone.

Dynamite's first issue understands the fundamental rule of Don Karnage:

He should never shut up.

He's not supposed to be a terrifying pirate.

He's supposed to be the kind of pirate who thinks he's the greatest villain who has ever lived while everybody else is desperately trying not to laugh.

That's what makes him work.

SKYE RYDER: THE NEW VARIABLE

The biggest new element introduced in this first issue is Skye Ryder, the mysterious new resident of Cape Suzette.

And I like the decision to introduce somebody new.

This is important.

Dynamite could have made the entire comic nothing but a nostalgia parade.

Baloo!

Kit!

Rebecca!

Don Karnage!

Roll credits!

Instead, Skye gives the existing cast something to react to.

She's the reason the story has somewhere to go.

And because she's new, there are questions surrounding her.

Who is she?

Why does she need Higher for Hire?

Why are the air pirates interested in her?

And what exactly is she bringing into Baloo and Kit's lives?

Those questions give the series somewhere to go beyond simply recreating old episodes.

CARLO LAURO'S ART

The artwork might be the biggest reason this comic works.

Carlo Lauro's style has the difficult job of translating an animated property into still images without making it feel like somebody simply froze frames from the television show.

The characters need to look recognizable.

But they also need to work as comic-book characters.

And the aerial action is particularly important.

TaleSpin is a show about flying.

The Sea Duck isn't just transportation.

It's practically another character.

So when the comic puts Baloo and Kit in the air, there needs to be a sense of movement.

Fortunately, the artwork gives the action room to breathe.

You can feel the difference between a character standing on the ground and the Sea Duck tearing through the sky.

And that's exactly what I wanted from this book.

THIS DOESN'T FEEL LIKE A REBOOT

This is perhaps the greatest compliment I can give it.

It doesn't feel like Dynamite is trying to "fix" TaleSpin.

It doesn't feel like they're embarrassed by the original.

It doesn't feel like they're taking the property and turning it into something completely unrecognizable.

It feels like someone looked at the original show and said:

"Okay. Where do these characters go next?"

That's the right question.

Not:

"How do we make TaleSpin relevant?"

Not:

"How do we modernize everything?"

Just:

"What's the next adventure?"

BUT IS IT TOO NOSTALGIC?

Here's where I'm going to be honest.

This book is absolutely relying on nostalgia.

There's no getting around that.

The entire premise depends on readers remembering why they loved TaleSpin in the first place.

But I don't necessarily consider that a weakness.

Nostalgia becomes a problem when nostalgia is the only thing a revival has.

This comic has new material.

A new character.

A new adventure.

New conflicts.

And an opportunity to expand the world.

So far, Dynamite appears to be using nostalgia as the runway rather than the destination.

And that's a very important distinction.

THE BIG QUESTION: DOES IT FEEL LIKE THE DISNEY AFTERNOON?

Yes.

That's the answer.

It does.

Not perfectly.

Nothing can perfectly reproduce being a kid watching the Disney Afternoon for the first time.

You can't recreate 1990.

You can't recreate being six years old.

You can't recreate discovering Baloo, Kit, Rebecca, Wildcat and Don Karnage on television for the first time.

But you can recreate the spirit.

And this comic gets surprisingly close.

It's colorful.

It's adventurous.

It's funny.

It's fast.

And most importantly:

It wants you to have fun.

FINAL VERDICT

TALESPIN #1 — 9/10

THE CHAOS GAZETTE SCORECARD

Story: 9/10Characters: 9/10Artwork: 9/10Action: 9/10Nostalgia: 10/10New Material: 8/10Overall: 9/10

Dynamite's TaleSpin isn't trying to replace the cartoon.

It's doing something much more useful.

It's giving the characters another adventure.

Baloo is back.

Kit is back.

Don Karnage is back.

The Sea Duck is back in the sky.

And there's a new passenger aboard who might have considerably more trouble attached to her than Higher for Hire was expecting.

That's enough for me.

I'll be boarding the Sea Duck again for Issue #2.

Hopefully Baloo remembers to fuel the damn thing this time.

— Bugsy NoNameComics Editor, The Chaos Gazette

CHAOS GAZETTE BOTTOM LINE

A loving continuation that understands the difference between preserving a classic and simply photocopying it.

TaleSpin has taken off again.

And this time, we're coming along for the ride.